GREYS

Milk Thistle

#9E9B88

RGB 158, 155, 136 · HSL 52°, 10%, 58% · CMYK 0, 2, 14, 38

Milk Thistle is #9E9B88 in HEX — rgb(158, 155, 136), hsl(52°, 10%, 58%), cmyk(0%, 2%, 14%, 38%).

Milk Thistle pulls into the mid-tone end of the greys spectrum — HSL 52°, 10%, 58%. The neutral saturation makes it near-neutral and forgiving, and the hue reads cool. In interior projects it shines on walls, soft furniture, hard surfaces — as the project's quiet backbone. Reads best alongside white trim, natural wood, brass, soft black accents.

Color Codes

HEX#9E9B88

RGB158, 155, 136

HSL52°, 10%, 58%

HSV52°, 14%, 62%

CMYK0, 2, 14, 38

Decimal10394504

CSS RGBrgb(158, 155, 136)

CSS HSLhsl(52, 10%, 58%)

Paint Matches — this color across 16 brands

Benjamin Moore

Creekside 2141-40

ΔE 0.9 · #9B9986

Sherwin-Williams

At Ease Soldier SW9127

ΔE 1.2 · #9E9985

Behr

Milk Thistle MQ6-26

ΔE 1.2 · #9B9886

Valspar

Grandma's Linen 6001-1C

ΔE 1.2 · #9B9B88

Dulux

Green Fog S18B4

ΔE 1.5 · #9A9A86

Hallman-Lindsay

Orestes 379

ΔE 2.3 · #9F9B84

Dunn-Edwards

Elemental Green DE6271

ΔE 2.5 · #969783

PPG

Smoky Slate 1028-4

ΔE 2.5 · #A1A18F

Vista Paint

Orestes C-378

ΔE 2.8 · #9E9B83

Colorhouse

Nourish .03 Nourish-03

ΔE 3.2 · #A5A392

Kilz

Greyswood TB-16

ΔE 3.4 · #A49D8F

Farrow & Ball

Lichen 19

ΔE 3.5 · #A1A189

IKEA

IKEA176 176

ΔE 3.7 · #9D978A

Dutch Boy

Camel's Hump DCP-0219

ΔE 6.1 · #989187

RAL

Stone Grey 7030

ΔE 6.3 · #8B8C7A

Kobra

Gold 45

ΔE 16.1 · #8E7A5A

Light Reflectance & Undertone

Light Reflectance Value (LRV)

32/100

Medium

0 · DarkLight · 100

Balanced reflectance — holds colour without washing out. Versatile for most rooms and the most forgiving range for true-to-chip results.

Undertone

TemperatureWarm MasstoneYellow UndertoneGreen

A near-neutral with a subtle warm green undertone — it will pick up colour from surrounding surfaces and shift noticeably under different light.

Color Theory

Complementary

#9E9B88

#898C9F

Analogous

#9F9189

#9E9B88

#979F89

Triadic

#9E9B88

#899F9C

#9C899F

Split-Complementary

#9E9B88

#89979F

#91899F

Tetradic

#9E9B88

#899F91

#898C9F

#9F8997

Monochromatic

#4F4D40

#797663

#9E9B88

#C1BFB3

#E3E3DD

Rectangle

#9E9B88

#8C9F89

#898C9F

#9C899F

Compound

#9E9B88

#979F89

#898C9F

#91899F

Variations

Lighter

#B2B0A1

#C4C3B9

#DCDBD7

Darker

#837F6A

#5A5848

#35332A

Saturation

#979691

#9F9C89

#CFBF59

Interior Use

Best Rooms

living rooms, bedrooms, bathrooms

Best Uses

walls, soft furniture, hard surfaces

Pairs With

white trim, natural wood, brass, soft black accents

Accessibility (WCAG)

vs White

2.80:1

Fail

vs Black

7.50:1

AAA

Deuteranopia

#9E9B88

#9F9A89

Original → Simulated

Protanopia

#9E9B88

#9C9C8B

Original → Simulated

Tritanopia

#9E9B88

#9F989A

Original → Simulated

Color Psychology

Quiet · Versatile

Milk Thistle gets out of the way so the architecture and the people in the room do the work. The right neutral is never a default — it reads warm or cool, dusty or sharp depending on its undertone, and that undertone is what makes or breaks the room.

SymbolismBalance, sophistication, calm

PersonalityAdaptable, considered, timeless

versatileneutraltimelessbackdroptrimwall

How it looks under different light

#B6A181

Warm Bulb 2700K

Incandescent / soft white LED — pulls colour toward yellow/amber.

#9E9B88

Daylight 5500K

Midday natural light or daylight-spec LED — closest to the paint chip.

#A3A6A5

Cool Bulb 6500K

Cool white LED / overcast daylight — pulls colour toward blue.

Pairs With

#EBEBEA

Trim

Matched off-white

Same hue at 92% lightness — trim reads coordinated, not stark.

#F7F7F7

Ceiling

Whisper tint

Near-white with a hint of the hero's undertone — ceiling feels intentional.

#5E679D

Accent

Complementary punch

Hue +180°, slightly muted for paint vs. screen — use on a door, frame, or single piece.

#574738

Floor

Walnut neutral

Warm mid-brown grounds the scheme regardless of hero hue.

Paint Info

Brand · Product Line

Benjamin Moore / Regal Select Interior

Recommended Finishes

Eggshell (walls) · Pearl (trim) · Matte (ceiling)

Eggshell hides imperfections on main walls while keeping the color rich; pearl on trim adds subtle sheen and easier cleaning; flat matte on ceilings prevents glare.

Best Surfaces

Primary walls · Cabinetry · Trim · Soft furniture

Coverage & Dry Time

Typical coverage 350-400 sq ft per gallon over a primed surface.

Touch-dry in ~1 hour. Recoat after 4 hours. Full cure 7-14 days.

Primer

Standard primer is adequate.

Application Tip

Use a 9" microfiber roller on walls and a 2.5" angled sash brush for trim cuts. Two coats minimum for even depth.

Paint Calculator

Wall area (m²)

Coats

Coverage (m² / L)

You'll need

4.0 litres

1.06 US gallons · room for one touch-up coat. Buy slightly more to ensure single-batch match.

Code Snippets

CSS — color

color: #9E9B88;

CSS — background

background-color: #9E9B88;

CSS Variable

--color-milk-thistle: #9E9B88;

Tailwind v3 — config

colors: { 'milk-thistle': '#9E9B88' }

Tailwind — arbitrary

bg-[#9E9B88] text-[#9E9B88]

SCSS

$milk-thistle: #9E9B88;

Similar Colors

Creekside Green

#9A9885 · ΔE 1.3

River Gorge Gray

#A09A89 · ΔE 1.6

Gettysburg Gray

#9A9684 · ΔE 1.9

Raintree Green

#9A9C87 · ΔE 2.3

Downtown

#A39A88 · ΔE 2.5

Cole Stone

#A29886 · ΔE 2.9

Louisburg Green

#9C9E87 · ΔE 3.0

Briarwood

#A09889 · ΔE 3.0

Built by DSGN.HOUSE Updated 2026

Our color tools run on our own catalogue of 26,000+ real paint colors across 16 brands — Benjamin Moore, Sherwin-Williams, Behr, Dulux, RAL and more — with the color math (HSL and CIELAB matching) computed in-house, not scraped from summaries. Every color you pick maps to a real, buyable paint with its code, so what you see here you can actually take to the store. We review and update these tools and their data regularly.

Created by Denis Kataev, founder of DSGN.HOUSE — a software engineer and digital entrepreneur building professional color-design tools for everyone.

Frequently Asked Questions

What color is #9E9B88?

#9E9B88 is Milk Thistle, a mid-tone grey with a cool undertone.

Is #9E9B88 warm or cool?

Milk Thistle reads cool, which influences how it interacts with surrounding tones and natural light.

What rooms work best with Milk Thistle?

Milk Thistle works well in living rooms, bedrooms, bathrooms. Designers typically use it for walls, soft furniture, hard surfaces.

What colors pair well with Milk Thistle?

Milk Thistle pairs naturally with white trim, natural wood, brass, soft black accents. Its complementary color is also a strong contrast option for accents.

Where can I download Milk Thistle?

You can download Milk Thistle on DSGN.HOUSE in 15 designer formats including CSS gradient, Figma, Procreate swatches, Tailwind config, Adobe ASE, SVG, and 4K wallpapers — all free.

What's the hex code for Milk Thistle?

The hex code is #9E9B88. In RGB it's 158, 155, 136, and in HSL it's 52°, 10%, 58%.

← All colors